I remember taking my best friend to my favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Little Saigon, for the first time. As far as I was concerned, there were two goals for the evening. 1. Order the stuffed chicken wings and marvel at their wondrousness; and 2. Order the Vietnamese pancake, also known as Banh Xeo. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

“You’re only given a little spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams

Robin Williams was known and beloved for his ability to improvise comedy gold at the drop of a hat, but he also proved himself to be a beautiful and poetic actor when it came to his more serious roles.

You may know him as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Or maybe Harry and Lloyd rings a bell? You know, that funny bloke with a bowl haircut and gapped tooth that sets off on a road trip to Aspen to chase the girl of his dreams in a van that looks like a large shaggy puppy.

A Nowra woman has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act after pleading guilty to two charges of animal cruelty against her Maltese cross terrier.

After a complaint was made in May last year an RSPCA Inspector attended the Worrigee property. Property owner Kirsty Hite verbally abused the inspector, refusing to present the dog and demanding the RSPCA leave her property. Ms Hite then attempted to attack the Inspector over the fence as she tried to see if the dog was somewhere in the backyard.

Returning with two members of the local police on June 12 the inspector once again tried to access the dog but was met with aggression and abuse as Ms Hite answered her door.

Eventually Ms Hite agreed to show the inspector and officers the dog they were looking for, saying she was in the backyard along with a younger dog.

A young Staffy crossbreed was found in the backyard in good body condition. Also in the backyard the inspector found a female Maltese cross Shih Tzu with badly matted fur around her rump and legs. After evaluating the dog the inspector noted that the Maltese was emaciated, with vertebrae, ribs, hips and thigh bones protruding.

The inspector made the decision to seize the dog. Ms Hite admitted that her dog was underweight but denied any abuse had taken place claiming she fed both dogs daily but the Staffy cross would always dominate and eat all food provided. When officers did not accept this explanation Ms Hite once again became abusive towards the inspector.

An inspection by the local vet found that the dog was severely underweight. After shaving the matted fur her weight dropped from 3.1 kilograms to 2.9 kilograms. The dog was also diagnosed with a moderate flea burden and a worm burden of Strongyle eggs.

The Maltese was weighed again on the 14th of July after care and treatment. She now weighs a healthy 4.27 kilograms and is waiting to be rehomed by the RSPCA

Ms Hite was charged with failure to provide veterinary treatment for parasite burden and failure to provide proper and sufficient food to an animal. Ms Hite is required to pay $10,246 and must attend the local police station for fingerprinting.